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Sun Valley Rides to return

Owner Steve Mattfeldt says there are lots of new rides

One of the great features of the Prowers County Fair in 2016 is the return of Sun Valley Rides to the midway.

Steve Mattfeldt from Sun Valley Rides said he has changed quite a bit of equipment around since his Last trip to Lamar in 2011.

"This year we have a different YoYo which is a big swing ride, a Tornado teenage ride and a new family train called the Jakerz train along with the Ferris Wheel," he said, "We'll have 14 rides total."

He said 32 inches is the minimum height for insurance regulations.

"They have to be at least 32 inches," he said. "The Zipper they have to be 54 inches."

Sun Valley also has a variety of family rides, he said, and smaller kid rides.

"Most of our kid rides are parent friendly," Mattfeldt said. "The parents can ride with them."

Parents can also help their kids on and off the kid rides.

"It's always been a big thing we've done," he said. "That way the parents get involved through the whole process."

There will also be between 7-10 games.

"Game people are all on a percentage basis," he said. "Some of them will leave and go to bigger fairs and come back around."

Sun Valley has one big food trailer that he calls a 7-11 because of the amount of items it carries.

"It's typical carnival type fare," he said.

This is his 28th year in charge of a carnival.

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"My mother was a school teacher, my father worked up in Montana and my Grandfather was the concession manager at the Montana State Fair," he said. "When we were younger we would work at the state fair in Great Falls and work in the rodeo side show."

When he was 16 he built a couple of booth concessions and after high school he went to the Midwest

"I met my wife of 31 years and she and I together started the carnival," he said.

He couple enjoys traveling and seeing a lot of places while running the carnival.

"We travel seven states and we're on the road quite a bit," he said.

He likes working in the smaller communities.

"People appreciate it a little bit more," he said. "We're in Sydney Nebraska right now."

He said the carnival business is like any business.

"Nowadays, with all the regulations, it more it tougher to do business," he said. "I have too much in to retire."

He utilizes foreign workers.

"I can't get enough American workers," he said. "I pick 25 foreign workers up each and every year and that's made it a lot easier."

He said the operation is also cleaner.

"As far as owning a business, it's just like a job," he said," he said. "We're not yet wealthy, it is what it is."

Mattfeldt said the Ferris Wheel has always been his favorite which he bought in 1999.

"It was the same Ferris Wheel that was in the movie Wild Hogs," he said.

He said the YoYo is also pretty cool.

"I'm 50 years old and I don't go on too many rides anymore," he said. "We got the Yo yo in March and it jumps about 30 feet in the air."

He said there is always feedback about the rides.

"We weigh the tickets on every ride and kind of get a feel about how they are doing that way," he said. "With social media now, they'll let us know if they are doing good or doing bad."

The group tries to gear more towards teenage rides.

"There are some carnivals that have lots and lots of kid rides," he said. "The thing is that when kids are six or seven years old they don't want to go on the kid rides they want to go on the big rides."

They shy away from the kid rides.

"We don't do inflatables," he said. "We get some pretty big wind over here to."

The carnival has not explored virtual reality rides.

"The biggest reason is we're on generators," he said. "When you're at a big location very rarely would you ever have a spike unless there is a thunder storm."

Some of the rides will draws on the generator, he said, and will fluctuate.

It usually takes one day to set up.

"It's an eight hour day," he said. "When we set up, a lot of these machines have to be greased.

Once they are set up, he said they go so high it takes longer to get greased.

"We take it down in about four hours and we're usually gone the next day," he said.

He said drivers have been a challenge for the carnival.

"We have 17 loads of equipment and we have to make two trips," he said.

He said that isn't too bad.

"Usually we're on a four day week," he said. "The next two fairs we play are five day fairs."

Mattfeldt said that can get hairy, but they will bring in private drivers to transport the equipment.

"We do that once in a while," he said.

He said the carnival season is 46 weeks out of the year.

"It's pretty long," he said.

He said everybody gets into a routine.

"Our next fair after you is in New Mexico," he said. "We'll be back in Arizona after Labor Day."

The carnival runs until the week before Thanksgiving.

"Everything gets parked and we're done until the middle of January," he said. "The foreign workers come back at the end of January and we get all the rides out on the road and we rebuild and paint our rides."

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